Student Wellbeing & 

Learner Diversity 

Strategies for Parents of first-time (or nervous) School Campers

School camps, slumber parties and sleepovers are important steps to your child gaining their independence, but for some children and their parents, this exciting opportunity can be riddled with potential anxiety. Thankfully, effective strategies resolve some of the most common concerns around sleeping away from home or without the comfort of family.

Why can Overnight School Camp seem scary?

Just like anything new, overnight trips present children with a series of unknowns. These can range from primal concerns around their safety to social concerns about fitting in and getting along with peers or practical concerns like whether they will remember everything or pack the right things. Knowing the main theme of your child’s concern will be the first step in assisting them to feel more confident.

Overall, the main goal for parents is to focus on positives. Think about what your child has to gain from this experience. It is very likely to be a great opportunity to establish new friendships, participate in hands-on learning experiences and, importantly, gain a sense of independence outside of the family network. 

The following considerations and tips may be helpful for parents:

Are you yourself anxious? In preparation, it is important to check how you are feeling. What are you worried about as a parent? How are you addressing these concerns? In these times, if you are worried, you are more likely to present as flustered and somewhat erratic. This can heighten anxiety in young children, who could interpret camp as something to be concerned about. It is important to manage your own anxiety first!

Homesickness chat. This is a big one! You may have experienced some separation anxiety with your child. This experience is quite relatable in that it is an unknown situation. If your child is worried they may miss home too much to enjoy themselves; an easy fix can be to have your child bring with them an important item (inexpensive) from home that can easily be popped in their bag, such as a small toy, scarf or bracelet.

Pack together. Make it fun! Often camps will provide you with a list of required items. For a sleepover, you can call the other parent and jot down a list. Then turn packing into a game, such as collecting the required items as if on a scavenger hunt. Further to this, make sure you do not leave packing to the last minute! 

Reduce the sense of the ‘unknown’. Talk about what to expect. In the coming weeks a rough schedule with planned activities will be coming home. This will happen at school as well. Ask your child to share what they have learnt about the camp from discussions at school. Classes will visit the website and talk about the activities, sleeping arrangements, meal times and after dinner activities.

Share your own positive experiences. Simply talking with your child about your good experiences on camp may help to ease the fear of the unknown further. It is okay to talk about experiences that also didn’t turn out too well. It is important to emphasise the learning that came out of that experience!

Normalise that some anxiety is okay. It is always important to emphasise that all feelings we experience are normal and good, and part of our body looking after us. Holding onto anxious feelings is not helpful in the long term. Help your children to recognise when they don’t feel good, and to challenge an unhelpful feeling with a helpful thought or saying to themselves, for instance, “I’m feeling nervous, but I know I’ll have a great time with my friends on camp”.

For the night-owls. If there is a certain item at home that helps your child get to sleep, let them take it to camp to help put them at ease (no phones or iPads). If your child seems embarrassed about having a comfort toy at camp, you could find a small precious object to pop under their pillow instead. A drawing/portrait of the toy or letter (perhaps even written in the voice of their special toy) are also good substitutes.

QUICK TIP: Ensure children get a good sleep the night before camp. Being well rested and refreshed leading up to camp will help them feel relaxed and enjoy their mini adventure.

School camps are a great opportunity for children to reach outside their comfort zone, discover new friends and experience outdoor adventures first hand. Parents and teachers have an important role to play in helping them to be prepared physically, emotionally and practically.

Donna Allen